David E Kuhl and Dennis L. Meadows – winners of the 2009 Japan Prize

David E Kuhl and Dennis L Meadows, the winners of the 2009 Japan Prize gave a presentation in Tokyo on April 22, 2009.

Professor David E Kuhl was given the Japan Prize for tomographic imaging in nuclear medecine, he has been called the “father of emission tomography”, having developed tomographic imaging in nuclear medicine.

Dennis Meadows is famous for his book “The Limits of Growth” (1972), which was written by three MIT scientists including Meadows as a project funded by the Club of Rome. Meadows has shown that current economic and human activity has become unsustainable.

Asked about the current economic crisis, Meadows explains the current economic crisis as the bottom of the Kondratiev cycle, which has a period of 45-60 years (about 50 years). According to Meadows the reason for the Kondratiev cycles is overinvestments in production resources. Excessive production resources need to be adjusted to actual needs periodically, and this period is about 50 years. The last Kondriatiev-type elimination of production overcapacity was caused by the damages of the 2nd World War. Currently this down-adjustment of production resources occurs in peace-time.

David E Kuhl and Dennis L Meadows, the winners of the 2009 Japan Prize in Tokyo on April 22, 2009